Essex Police: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the proposed 2025/26 funding settlement for Essex Police in the context of (a) the full-year cost of the 2023/24 pay award and (b) pay increments associated with the Police Uplift Programme.
Answered by Dame Diana Johnson
The 2025-26 provisional police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.5 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 settlement, and equates to a 5.5% cash increase, and 3% real terms increase in funding.
Essex Police will receive up to £431.1 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £24.9 million when compared to 2024-25.
Additional funding for police forces, including funding for pay awards, should be considered in totality – including both government grants and precept.
This Government is committed to maintaining officer numbers. The Police Officer Maintenance grant provides funding to forces that successfully maintain officer headcounts as set out in the Police Funding Settlement. Forces are ineligible to receive funding if they fail to achieve these targets.
Based on the last published Police Workforce Statistics total officer numbers across England and Wales, and in Essex police, met officer maintenance requirements.
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